Home Made Hot Fudge Sauce

Desserts you can whip up with whatever is in the pantry are dangerous.

In my student days it was chocolate self saucing pudding. My first flat was perhaps the worst, with four of us girls living together in a tiny, cold flat. One time, about this time of year when the cold southerlies started kicking in, we were desperate for dessert in that way that only a flat full of girls can be.

We turned to our flat staple - the Edmonds Cookbook. Realising that the ingredient list for chocolate self saucing pudding was made up of our pantry staples, we made the pudding (which for me, was a first).

That one night opened the floodgates. That year we must have made that pudding with every possible variation; extra chocolate, with a vanilla pudding and chocolate sauce, and one night with Milo when we were out of cocoa (with surprisingly amazing results!).

What that year taught me (aside from how to make a really good chocolate self saucing pudding) was how dangerous desserts you can make on a whim can be. It starts off as a rainy day thing, but before you know it you're craving it three times a week.

Home made hot fudge sauce would be just as dangerous, except that I don't have ice cream in the freezer as a household staple. Probably a good thing - out of sight, out of mind. But when the cravings hit (thankfully, on a rainy day, rather than three times a week these days), nothing quite beats home made hot fudge sauce.

It's simple really; a little chocolate (some sifty chocolate buttons in the back of the pantry), a little sugar, butter, and cocoa, and that's pretty much it. Then just spike it with a flavour of your choice - vanilla, coconut, peppermint essence, or some strong coffee are all delicious options. Or try an adult version by adding kahlua, rum, brandy or cointreu.

Home Made Hot Fudge Sauce (makes enough to serve 4 with ice cream)

25g Butter
A large handful of chocolate buttons
1T sugar
2 or 3T cocoa (Dutch is best, with it's dark, bittersweet flavour)
2 or 3T boiling water
A pinch of salt
Flavouring of your choice

Melt the butter and chocolate buttons in a pan over a low heat. Add the sugar, cocoa, and water, and bring to the boil.

Let everything boil for a minute or so, stirring. Add the salt and flavouring, and stir through.

That's it. Just pour over ice cream.